Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
22 October 2018 Photo Sonia Small
Prof Philippe Burgers book Getting It Right
Prof Philippe Burger’s book Getting It Right: A New Economy for South Africa highlights the urgent need to purge government policies of all forms of toxic patronage relationships and mismanagement in order to save our economy.
South Africa is in an economic rut. Economic growth has collapsed, the unemployment rate has increased, and the country’s level of inequality is of the highest in the world. As if that’s not enough, high levels of corruption, patronage, and state capture also mean that it suffers from severe institutional rot.

It is a sobering picture that is painted on the outside cover of Getting It Right: A New Economy for South Africa – the latest book by Prof Phillipe Burger, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.  In the book, he explains how the legacy of the Apartheid era labour system, the old system of Bantu Education, and the former Bantustans still cripple our economy. And why 24 years of democratic government reforms could still not deliver on the promises of work and prosperity.

Education to blame
 
One of the chargeable factors he singles out, is the state of our education system.
 
“Half of South Africa’s children start school, but never finish. Less than one percent of learners achieve a distinction in Maths in the final matric exam. And on an organisational level, many schools are crippled by labour unions calling the shots, which often means that underperforming teachers stay in their jobs. All these things eventually contribute to our unemployment rate of 27%,” he says.

Towards solutions
The solutions he advocates include securing recurrent economic investment by creating an investor-friendly environment, but also paying urgent attention to ridding our education system and communal land areas under traditional chiefs, where 32% of South Africa’s population are still living, of all forms of self-serving patronage relationships.
 
Prof Burger wrote the bulk of the book during his nine-month tenure as a Fulbright Exchange Scholar in the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University’s Earth Institute (New York). The time he spent there with renowned American economist, Professor Jeffrey Sachs – who also wrote the foreword of his book – was invaluable to his research.
  
Returning from an overseas trip recently, Prof Burger was delighted to see Getting It Right on the bestsellers shelf of Exclusive Books at the OR Tambo Airport. 
“It was a great welcome-home gift!”

He hopes the book will be read by the generally informed public in the run-up to next year’s elections, and that it will help to influence how people think about policy issues.

News Archive

Almost 2000 degrees and diplomas conferred at Winter Graduation
2015-06-26

Live streaming will be available on: http://livestream.ufs.ac.za/

The 2015 Winter Graduations are almost underway. The highlight on the university calendar for every graduate will take place on the Bloemfontein Campus on 1-2 July 2015. On 1 July 2015, diplomas will be awarded by the Centre of Financial Planning Law (331 in total) and the School of Open Learning (376 in total). On 2 July 2015, a total of 1 220 master’s and doctoral degrees will be awarded to graduates from all seven faculties.

A highlight at this year’s Winter Graduation is the awarding of three honorary degrees by the university. Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, Dr Mercy Oduyoye and Mr John Samuel will receive honorary degrees.

On 17 August 2012, Ambassador Brahimi was appointed by the United Nations as the new peace envoy to Syria, replacing Kofi Annan. He is also a member of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, the first global initiative to focus specifically on the link between exclusion, poverty and the law. Prof Heidi Hudson, Head of the Centre for Africa Studies at the UFS, will receive the honorary degree on his behalf.

Dr Oduyoye is widely regarded as one of the most influential women theologians Africa has produced in recent history. Currently, she directs the Institute of African Women in Religion and Culture at the Trinity Theology Seminary in Legon, Ghana.

Mr John Samuel, who will receive an honorary award, is also scheduled to be a guest speaker at the two ceremonies on 1 July 2015.

Wednesday 1 July 2015:

John Samuel will be the speaker at both ceremonies. He is one of South Africa’s leading education experts with international and national experience, covering a period of more than forty years. He was involved in the founding of the South African Campaign: Public Participation in Education Network (PPEN), established the Centre for Education Policy Development, the Joint Working Group (for The National Party Government and the ANC), the National Education Conference, and the National Education and Training Forum. He also made leadership contributions to the First Education and Training White Paper, the Transformation Strategy for the National Education Department, and the first Green Paper on Higher Education.

John is also Senior Programme Director of the WK Kellogg Foundation in the USA. He has also been the Chief Executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, and the CEO of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls.

Thursday 2 July 2015:

Nataniël will be the speaker at both ceremonies. Nataniël is a singer, songwriter, and South African entertainer, who has crossed from the alternative circuit to the stage. For the past 10 years, he has become well-known for his outspoken Kaalkop column in SARIE magazine. His solo career was launched in 1987 and, since then, he has released 16 albums, staged more than 70 original theatre productions, and published 15 books. Over the past two decades, Nataniël has gained the title of South Africa’s leading exponent of the solo stage act. He manages Kaalkop Studio, his lifestyle retail company, and records on his own independent label, Nataniël House Of Music. He is an ambassador for Child Welfare SA, and also heads his own charitable foundation, The Nataniël Progress Project.

 

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept